Everyday Magics
by awaylaughing
Summary: Snapshots into the potential life of Naruto characters if they had the dubious pleasure of being Harry Potter characters instead. Fusion fic, gen for now.
1. 1989 - Letters

**Title: **1989 - Letters

**Summary: **Hogwarts letters come to different people in different ways.

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **I know, uploading another WIP is bad manners but I am so crazy blocked, the only way to get around it is to write _something_. That something being an HP/Naruto crossover. A fact of life is, if I love two things, I _will_ try a crossover. This is a fusion fic as opposed to 'ninja in Hogwarts' type fic, so I hope you enjoy.

* * *

_March 9th, 1989_

_Edinburgh, Scotland, UK_

Tenten was by nature an early riser, and had been most of her life. A gloomy winter morning was no exception as she sat watching her family get ready for the upcoming school day. Tenten was already dressed, ready for a day trip at a local farm, though the same could not be said for her brothers who were running back and forth, yelling.

"Tao!" her youngest brother shouted up the stairs, "where are my boots?"

"Under the table Shun," her mother said as she packed several bags worth of lunch. Tao sat at the table, struggling with his socks. "Ting, please finish that toast if nothing else. Fan, stop playing with your porridge and eat it. We bought it for you specifically."

Tenten wrinkled her nose at the use of her real name, but finished her jelly covered toast dutifully while Fan began to eat his now cold porridge in large, dramatic bites. Shun and her eldest brother clomped downstairs together, Shun looking sheepish, Ling looking annoyed.

"Mama," he said, "Shun's been yelling and Bo won't wake up." Tenten's mother sighed, pinning her youngest with a stare.

"No. Yelling. In. The. House." She enunciated each word slowly, "understand me Shun? Your father needs his rest." Shun, who was naturally loud and boisterous, flushed and nodded. Tenten's mother, Jinghua being her proper name, looked at her children before pinning Tenten with a stare. "Ting, please go wake up Bo, and check to see your father is still sleeping. The come downstairs, you still need to put on your outer wear."

"Yes mama," the eleven year old said, stepping as quietly as she could as she mounted the stairs. As it turned out, Bo, who had a sixth sense for when she was about to get in trouble, was now up, shuffling about with a toothbrush in her mouth as she hunted for her hairbrush. Tenten sat down on the older girl's bed, handing the pink handled brush to her sister who grunted in response.

She watched as the older girl quickly braided her long hair and lined her dark eyes in kohl with an almost professional hand. Tenten was about to ask Bo how she did it – Tenten always smudged her makeup, when her mother's voice came from downstairs. "Ting! Come here!"

Bo eyed Tenten. "What did you do Ting?"

"Nothing," she said defensively. "And call me Tenten." Hopping off the bed she headed over to the door, calling "coming mama!" as she walked. Tenten stopped only very briefly to see what her father was doing – reading it turned out – before she skipped downstairs, back into the kitchen.

Her brothers were gone, a brief glance out the window verifying that they were outside roughhousing in the snow. Or at least, Fan, Shun and Tao were, Ling was reading in the mudroom. Her mother was standing at the kitchen table, frowning down at something in her hand. "You've got a letter," she said, sounding more confused than anything. "From a school."

Tenten frowned in confusion, taking the letter. The writing on the thick envelop was green and read Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She looked at her mother in alarm, wondering if it was some kind of joke. "Mama?" she asked and her mother shrugged.

"Open it," she said, "maybe it's a school activity you forgot about."

_July 5th, 1989_

_Finchley, London, England, UK_

Neji could not help but feel somewhat apprehensive when he woke up at five am. on his birthday. The sun was not yet up though he could here someone out in the hall, but other than that the Hyūga household was still asleep. Slipping out of his bedroom Neji took time getting dressed, going so far as to brush his teeth in his bathroom before he finally headed downstairs.

The England branch of the once famed Hyūga family was as old and pureblood as their native counterparts, something which showed in the sprawling mass of their home. Making his way down the white halls of the large estate decorated with enough ancient calligraphy scrolls, paintings and prints to make a museum weep in envy, Neji did not even encounter one of the servants.

He was, however, somewhat surprised upon entering the kitchen to find not only his uncle, who was always the first person up, but his aunt and cousin as well. Hiding his shock with a practised half bow, he could not hide his curiosity as he turned to Hinata. "Did you have trouble sleeping?" he asked the younger Hyūga, and was not terribly surprised when she flushed pink.

"No," she said, "I slept quite well niisan. I just um, well I wanted to be here when you got your letter," she looked hopefully at him.

Suppressing a grin at her obvious interest in the Hogwarts letter, Neji nodded. "Of course," he said. "I'm a little surprised Hanabi isn't up too." From her spot at the casual dining table his aunt tutted lightly.

"I've half a mind to send the both you back to bed for at least another two hours," she said. "So don't going jinxing the good luck that has Hanabi still asleep." Across from her Neji's uncle sighed.

"Don't tempt fate, any of you," he said, peering up from the papers he was working on. "And I am not waking Emi to make you breakfast," he pinned them with a severe glare. Neji nodded his understanding, but Hinata blushed more and ducked her head.

"O-of course father," she said, "I-I wouldn't want that." Hiashi did not respond to her beyond a dismissive grunt, and Neji rolled his eyes at his uncle's aloofness. Ignoring Hinata's stuttering and the disapproving looks his aunt shot her husband he walked over to the kettle, checking for water.

"Sorry Neji dear," his aunt said, "we weren't expecting you two for at least an hour," she smiled at them and stood. "Here, let me make breakfast and tea, it is your birthday after all." She walked over, ruffling Neji's long hair as she did so. With Hinata she smoothed the sleep tousled locks and kissed her on the top the head. "Now, go do something fun you two," she said. "Which means absolutely no meditation or preparation studying,"

"Yes mother," Hinata said. Neji nodded in thanks before exiting the kitchen, not bothering to check if Hinata followed. She did of course, coming up to him with a brief jog, lingering near his shoulder. "Where are you going, Neji?" she asked, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"Stop that," he told her, "everyone always knows what you're thinking when you do that." Hinata flushed once again, clasping her hands in front of her. "And I am going outside to the garden." Hinata frowned.

"Mother said we shouldn't meditate," she said and Neji shook his head.

"We're going to watch the sunrise," he told her. "That's all." Outside they settled in two crooks of a large tree at the far back of the garden, both high enough to see over the top of the estate. People were starting to mill about on the street, unaware of their watchers as the sun crept over the horizon. The cousins themselves failed to take note of the owl who swooped above their heads, a letter attached to her leg, too busy watching the skyline through hooded eyes.

"Niisan," Hinata asked sleepily. "What house do you think you'll be in?" His mother, after all, had been a proud Gryffindor, while his father had been a Slytherin. Neji hummed in response.

"Probably Slytherin," he said, "I don't think I have the temper for Gryffindor," Hinata giggled as she remembered their cousin Azami, a hot headed little ball of anger, and their only cousin currently in Gryffindor.

"Maybe you'll be in Ravenclaw like Tokuma-niisan," Hinata said. "I think that would be nice." She sighed, "I'll probably be a Hufflepuff." Neji raised an eyebrow and looked down at her.

"And what would be wrong with that?" he asked, her mother's side of the family had a very long and proud history in Hufflepuff.

"Hoshu-niisan said that Hufflepuff is where the weak Hyūga go," she admitted after a moment of silence.

Neji frowned at that. "Hoshu is a jerk," he told her, ignoring her gasp of shock at his blunt assessment of one of their eldest cousins. "He won't even be there by the time you start going anyway, so don't bother with his opinion." Smiling, he added, "maybe if we're lucky he'll fall off his broom this year."

Hinata gasped to cover up a giggle, "Neji-niisan," she said, voice chiding, but was interrupted by the very high, very loud voice of her sister.

"Ane! Neji-niisan! Mother won't let me have my tea until you come down here and read your letter!" Neji blinked in surprise.

"It's already here?" he called back to her, even as he and his cousin hopped down the tree branches.

"Well it's almost six!" she cried, "now hurry up! I wanna eat!"

"We're coming Hanabi," Hinata cried, racing behind Neji, "don't worry!" To Neji, more quietly, she said, "you shouldn't worry either niisan. You'll be amazing no matter where you go." Neji smiled at her trust, just a small one, but thanked her as they entered the house. A new life was coming.

_July 24th, 1989_

_Sholing, Southampton, England_

Lee was woken up by a 3 stone, hyper excited five year old jumping on his chest and shouting. Granted, this wasn't particularly unusual but it was never all that welcome, though he loved Ben dearly.

No, really.

"Up up up!" the little boy shouted, "it's parent day Lee! Get up!"

"M up Ben," Lee said, gently pushing the freckled child off onto the unused part of the bed and rolling into a stand. Two more children stood in the door way, both slightly older than Ben. The girl, dark skinned and tall for her age looked a little embarrassed, while the boy looked unimpressed.

"Knock it off Ben," he said. "Lee's eleven now, no one's going to adopt him." Lee felt a pang and the girl smacked him upside the head.

"Noah," she said, and the boy, blond and scrawny, shrugged.

"It's true," he said, "we're only eight and no one wants us either," he eyed Ben. "You're the only one with real shot at getting adopted," he came fully into the room, taking a seat at the foot of Lee's bed as the boy pulled on a plain blue tee shirt and tried to decide between his three pairs of pants.

"The black ones," the girl said, "they don't have any stains on them," Lee noted this was true and shot her a giant green.

"My thanks Tianna," he said, "did I miss breakfast?"

"No, Stephen and Andrea aren't even up," she said, "it's only seven thirty after all." Lee blinked in surprise and looked at his clock.

"I slept in," he said and Noah groaned in disgust.

"You three are insane," he said. "I'd still be in bed if not for this madwoman," he glared at Tianna who smiled serenely back at him. The potential for bickering was cut off by a knock at the door and an older woman pocking her head in.

"Honestly you three," she chided Tianna, Noah and Ben, "do you have something against letting poor Lee sleep? And staying in here while he's dressing," she wagged her finger at Tianna "especially you!"

Tianna rolled her large, dark eyes at the familiar argument. "Why? It's not like I've never seen him in his swim trunks before," she said, "it's just Lee!" Lee chuckled at her, patting Ben on the head and smiling at the orphanage's matron.

"Good Morning Mrs. Locke," he said, "I hope everything's okay?" She smiled at his manners.

"I need to speak with you, Lee," she looked at the younger children, "alone." Grumbling they clambered off his bed, Ben giving Lee a thumbs up.

"Something good's gonna happen to you today Lee," he said firmly, "I can feel it in my big toe!" He'd broken it three months past, and since it healed insisted the mended bone could sense good luck. Noah thought he was being silly, Lee thought it was cute and Tianna didn't much care.

"Well then," Lee said, "how can I doubt you?" Mrs. Locke waved the little kids off, closing the door firmly and gesturing for Lee to sit.

"Now dear," she said, settling in beside him. "You've been with us a while now, and I love you as dearly as anyone else here, you understand that right?" Lee nodded at that, fear stirring in his gut. Mrs. and Mr. Locke had taken him in after his parent's death when he was six. Though not technically an orphanage, the Lockes were not foster parents, but rather more like a small scale group home. Once a month parents came by with the children's foster workers to see if they worked well together.

Lee's social worker visited often, but he hadn't brought a family with him in three years.

"Yes well," Mrs. Locke looked a little sad, now that Lee actually looked at her. "Well this is for you," she smiled. "A girl I took care of for a few months got this letter once," she said, "it made her very happy." She set a strange looking envelope down next to Lee and patted his hand gently. "Read it, and then come down for breakfast, alright deary?"

"Of course Mrs. Locke," Lee said slowly. He didn't get the chance to ask what was going on, as she disappeared, closing the door behind her.

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards_

It took Lee a few minutes to read the three pages of information within, and then read it a second time to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. His first reaction was, of course, disbelief. He was Lee Rock, resident weirdo and unwanted orphan, not a wizard. Of course, it explained little things, like the time his broken finger healed over night or the fact he managed to outrun bullies at seemingly impossible speeds, but it seemed unreal.

Then again, Mrs. Locke seemed to think it was real, and after a moment he headed downstairs. In the dining room a sleepy Stephen and chipper Andrea had joined the other three children, and Mr. Locke was seated between Ben and Stephen, listening raptly as Ben explained the plot of some show or other to him. Mrs. Locke was standing in the door of the kitchen, looking nervous, and she waved him in.

"Mrs. Locke," he said, "is there someone I can talk to about...this?" he waved the letter and she smiled.

"Of course, of course," she said. "Someone you know, actually." Lee frowned.

"I do?"

"Good morning Lee," a deep voice said from the door to the garden, "I'm terribly sorry for keeping this from you so long." Whirling around Lee was greeted with the large somewhat sheepish, green clad figure of his social worker.

"Gai?" he asked, feeling like he'd just been hit with a two by four. "You're magical?" the idea seemed ridiculous, though no more ridiculous then Lee being magical. Gai Vass, his social worker for the last four years, as his first had retired two years after he first joined the system, scratched his head.

"Afraid so, Lee," he said. "Milton gave me your case file when he retired," he smiled at Lee. "Why don't we sit down over some tea and talk about this?" Lee nodded weakly in agreement, letting Mrs. Locke guide him to his seat. "Now," Gai settled down across from him. "Where should we begin?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

A very important note about ages. In HP canon, Hogwarts has a cutoff date for birthdays - anyone born after Sept 1st goes a year later. This means, for the sake of the combined canons, some people are a year older than they are in Naruto. These people are:

Lee - starts at 11, but is 12 by November

Shikamaru - starts at 11, is 12 by the end of September

Ino - same as Shikamaru

Hinata - starts at 11, is 12 by the end of December. This also means _Hinata is **no longer one year younger than**_**_ Neji._**She's still the year under his, but age wise is only five months younger.

Naruto - starts at 11, turns 12 in October.

As such, all these characters will graduate at 18, not 17, but remain in the 'rookie 9' or 'team Gai' years they belong in.


	2. August 1st 1989 - Meetings Part 1

**Title: **1989 - Meetings, part 1

**Summary: **Shopping in Diagon Alley leads to Tenten and Lee's first meeting, and wands are bought.

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **Also - this story is plotless, it is literally a collection of moments in the HP canon with added Naruto characters for fun.

* * *

_August 1st, 1989_

_London, England_

Tenten, her mother and her father stepped into the previously invisible building behind the green clad witch who had arranged the meeting with only the slightest bit of hesitation. Inside only a handful of people were sitting together, several of them waved to Professor McGonagall, including a man in as much green as herself. More, actually. And it was rather more tight. Next to him a dark haired boy looked a little frightened and somewhat amazed by the whole affair.

"Ah Mr. Vass," Prof. McGonagall said, "I see you beat us here." The man grinned widely, hauling the boy to his feet easily.

"Of course only by the barest amount Professor," Mr. Vass said, "and please, Guy to you!"

McGonagall eyed the man in a way that suggested she had no intention of calling him by his first name, before she turned to look at the boy. "And you must be Mr. Rock," she said, "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall," she smiled at him, a rather nice smile all things considered, "I hope you're not too overwhelmed."

The boy smiled at her, dark eyes shining. "Oh not at all professor. Guy has told me a lot about everything so far, it's very exciting." He turned to Tenten's family, smile not dimming in the least. "Hello," he said, offering a hand to Tenten's father, "I am Lee Rock," he darted a glance at Tenten. "I'm glad I'll get to meet at least one other person who's not familiar with all this."

Smiling at the exuberant boy Tenten's father took his hand, "it is nice to meet you Mr. Rock," he said, "we are the Tengs," he said. "I am Wen, this is my wife Jianghua, and my daughter Ting."

"I prefer Tenten, please," the girl said before the introductions could go further. "How long have you known about magic?" she asked him, taking his hand now that her father had released it. "I got my letter on my birthday back in March, but this is the first time I've been in a magical place."

Lee blinked at that. "I didn't get mine on my birthday," he said, "in fact I did not get it until the 24th of July." Tenten frowned at that, thinking it was an odd date. "Guy says that anybody born after the cut off date get their letters on the 24th," Lee explained. "I was born in November."

That made sense, Tenten thought, but didn't get to say so as professor McGonagall called for their attention. "Quite correct Mr. Rock," she said, "it is, I understand, a source of frustration for children from magical families, having to wait several months after their birthday for their letter." She smiled, "now, follow me please. We're heading to Diagon Alley," she turned on her heel at that, and Tenten fell into step with Lee while her parents talked to Mr. Vass.

"Is Mr. Vass your father?" she asked, she knew some people called their parents by their names, and they looked somewhat alike, even if they had different surnames. Lee shook his head.

"He's my social care worker," Lee said, "my mother and father died in a car crash when I was six," Tenten paled and she stuttered out an apology. Lee just patted her on the back though, smiling. "It is quite alright Tenten," he said, "I honour my parents memory by talking about them," his smile grew, "and Guy is great, I'd be lost without him. This is all very strange." Professor McGonagall turned slightly as they entered a back room, smiling.

"I believe, Mr. Rock," it is about to get a titch stranger for you." With that she tapped several different bricks with her wand – and goodness Tenten could not _wait_ to get hers – and the four newest members of the wizarding world watched in amazement as a doorway formed.

"So cool," Lee said and Tenten nodded vigorous. Mr. Vass chuckled, and he came up them, his smile still in place.

"First off we will have to go to Gringotts, exchange money for the Tengs and get some for you Lee," Lee looked a little worried about that but said nothing. Tenten wondered if not having any parents meant he didn't have any money either, it seemed likely. Mr. Vass must have noticed his charge's worry because he ruffled his hair, "Hogwarts has a fund for students in special circumstances," he assured Lee, "it's used by many students."

Lee perked up after that, and after a surreal time in Gringotts the Tengs and Lee were very happy to step out into the August air of the alley. Mr. Vass chuckled at the vaguely shocked looked on their faces, and McGonagall hid a tiny smile behind pressed lips. "Well," Tenten's mother said after a moment, "that was certainly an experience."

"Meet my mother, master of the understatement," Tenten mumbled and Lee gave a tiny laugh the Scottish girl was inclined to call a giggle. Her mother levelled her with a look that clearly said, _I hear that_, but made no comment, and McGonagall surveyed the group.

"Now that we've sufficient funds, there are a number of places we could go. Books first, is an option, of course some people prefer to get their cauldrons as they are useful for carrying your other things. Robes are best to get before lunch," she said, "I find most children have trouble standing still directly after food."

Tenten bit her lip, wondering if she should say where she really wanted to go, but Lee beat her to it. "Professor," he said slowly, "what about wands?" Tenten flashed him a smile at that, liking the chipper boy for his forwardness. Mr. Vass laughed.

"Lee, my boy, the best should always be saved for last, didn't you know!" Lee seemed to consider that for a moment before he beamed at the tall man.

"Most correct sir," he agreed, "wands shall be the desert to our fulfilling meal of school shopping!" Tenten could not help but giggle at the sceptical look prof. McGonagall gave him, and the unusual comparison.

"Well," her father said, smile tugging at his lips, "why don't we get those cauldrons first, then robes, then we can get lunch and do books and finish up with wands." Tenten's mother nodded along as he spoke, agreeing and Lee seemed okay with the idea. Tenten, admittedly, really wanted her wand, but she understood the thought process. Not to mention prof. McGonagall and Mr. Vass looked like they approved of the plan.

"Agreed?" Mr. Vass asked, and struck a pose when answered with a chorus of 'yes' from his fellows. "Very good!" he said, "to Potage's!"

As it turned out, getting Tenten out of Flourish and Blotts seemed to take longer than the rest of the shopping combined, as every time they pulled her away from one shelf she seemed to spot a different title she was interested in. As it stood, prof. McGonagall was so impressed with her voracious reading appetite she ended up buying Tenten a book, despite the Tengs insistence that they could cover the expenses.

Tenten stared down at the book the teacher had gotten her, feeling a flutter of excitement. _"Witches and Warriors: A History of Women Who Changed the World"_ was now the top of her school book pile. She looked away from it when she almost bumped into a small long haired girl who did not acknowledge her apology, too busy staring at a broom.

"Our last stop, don't you agree Mr. Vass?" McGonagall lead the group to a small shop titled _Ollivander's_, and Tenten felt her heart speed up at the thought. The professor turned to look at herself and Lee, who was bouncing on his feet in excitement. "Well, Miss. Teng, Mr. Rock," she said, "Mr. Vass and myself have often found this is an experience most students like to have by themselves, or with a friend, though of course many parents appreciate the chance to see what it's like."

Tenten watched as her parents did that weird parental eye-talking thing, before her father finally smiled. "Jinghua and myself noticed a sweets shop a little down the way, I thought we should get some for the boys, since they couldn't come," her mother snorted at that.

"Of course, for the boys," she said in a way that suggested she did not believe her husband. "Unless you want us to stay, dear?" Tenten worried her lip as she thought, but caught sight of Lee out of the corner of her eye. Mind made up she grabbed his hand – much to his surprise – and smiled at her parents.

"Lee and I have got this," she said, "when you next see me, I'll be wielding the most wonderful wand known to mankind!" The adults laughed at that, and they parted ways as Lee tugged her excitedly into the shop.

It was unlike any of the others they had been in for the simple reason that it was uniquely empty, not even the shop keep was there. It smelled, to Tenten, of wood, dust and something unnameable underneath it, like fresh air and lightning. Up until that point Lee had not really stopped talking, from the moment they got their cauldrons to the moment they stepped up to the steps of the wand shop it had been nonstop, but somewhat soothing, chatter from the English boy.

The two stood in silence for a moment, taking in shelves full of boxes, and Tenten noted a slight shuffle from the back, and just as Lee called out a tentative "hello?" an old man came into view. He smiled at the two, appraising them. His eyes were incredibly light, becoming more obvious as he crept closer and closer. "New faces," he said at least, "muggleborns then." He smiled at them in what have been delight. "Always a bit more challenging when I've no one to compare to," he said, "but all the more satisfying."

He looked between the two of them expectantly, and Tenten realized he wanted to know who was going first.

To be honest, it became a bit of a stare down, until Lee smiled at her and puffed out his chest. "As a gentleman, I shall let my lady go first!" He smiled at the man that was presumably Mr. Ollivander, "as she is going to become a famous witch, it is best she gets to know hers first as well." Tenten smiled at that.

"Very good," the man said, pulling a tape measure from, well, nowhere. He proceeded to measure increasingly _bizarre_ places as her talked to the two about wands and wand lore in general. "I have," he told them, "a good feeling about your year. I sold a remarkable want just last week," he smiled at the memory, "cherry wood and phoenix feather," he told them. "Stubborn wand, very powerful," he hummed as he browsed his wares, "the young man the wand chose was rather pleased, very stoic though."

"Excuse me," Lee asked, "what do you mean, the boy the _wand_ chose?" Mr. Ollivander laughed at that as he pulled down three boxes from different shelves.

"Wands have a mind of their own my boy," he said, "a cherry wand, for example, is rare and very stubborn, but loyal. Phoenix feather is one of three cores I use, and the rarest of the three. Combined, it makes for a powerful wand, but hard to control, the wielder had best have iron will, or the effects will be," he paused, seemingly for effect, "memorable to say the least." Tenten looked doubtful.

"And he's to be in our year?" she asked, "I hope he's good then."

Mr. Ollivander smiled at her, reassuring. "Don't worry m'dear," he said, "that wand is not going to let it's wielder down, or rather won't be let down by it's wielder." He handed her the first wand, a short, richly coloured wand. "Apple and unicorn hair, 9 and a half inches," she took it, unsure and he waved his hand a little, "just a little swish," he said and she'd barely begun when he snatched it from her.

"No no, not apple _at all,_" he muttered to himself. He eyed one of the other boxes before shaking his head and replacing it with a different one. "Try this dear," he said, handing her a longer, more golden wand. "Larch and unicorn, 12 inches." This one stayed in her hand a moment longer before he offered her a different one, paler but still distinctly golden. "Pear and dragon heartstrings," he told her, "13-" he cut her off with a gasp. "Heartstrings, what was I thinking?" he asked himself, eyeing her.

"You are definitely a unicorn hair," he told her, "and I think I know exactly the wand," with that he disappeared for a moment, reappearing with a box even dustier than the others. "Try this one." He handed the wand to her, and she took a moment to appreciate the pale veneer, startled by the warmth it gave off. A simple swish produced an amazing effect, blue and purple sparks fluttered through the air, and Mr. Ollivander seemed quite pleased.

"Wow," Lee said from his corner, "it's beautiful Tenten." Tenten flushed and the man nodded.

"Laurel wood with a unicorn hair core, 11 and a half inches, quite swishy," he looked at her seriously. "In your hand you hold a wand which is unique in it's loyalty," he told her, "it will never serve another, but if you should misuse it, it will wither and eventually refuse even your hand." Tenten's hand tightened around the pale wand and she nodded vigorously.

After a moment she dug into her pocket and handed him the seven galleons McGonagall had given her straight of Gringott's for this express purpose. He took the money as if it were merely incidental to the whole thing and then beckoned Lee forward.

Lee almost tripped over himself to switch spots with Tenten, who sat heavily in the chair, half staring at Lee, half enraptured with her wand. Ollivander was replacing her other boxes as he picked up new ones for Lee, and she watched in interest as he hovered over two boxes, obviously wondering if he should bother, before he grabbed them both.

Letting the tape measure do it's thing, and armed with five boxes as opposed to her three, he set his cargo down as Lee fought to stand still. The first he pulled out was vaguely familiar in colour, pale and a sort of yellow-pink, she thought for a moment it was pear again before her spoke, snatching the tape from the air and passing the wand to Lee.

"Yew and unicorn hair," he told Lee who waved the wand only to almost tip over a shelf. Ollivander blinked at that before shaking his head. "Completely wrong," he said, "which means," he eyed the two boxes he'd been deliberating over earlier. "Yes, yes try this one."

The wand he handed Lee was pale with a greyish green ting, and quite long, but he grabbed it from Lee after only a second. "Just as I thought," he smiled at Lee, "you've a creative, loud presence my boy," he said, and Lee grinned in a way that suggested loud was something he heard often. "So, try this."

This wand was complete opposite her own, in that it was _black_, whereas hers was quite pale. Lee took it after a moment, eyes going wide and he waved it, producing sparks of multiple shades of green. Ollivander chuckled. "Ebony and dragon heartstrings. 12 and a half inches, slightly springy. A loud wand," he said, "but proud and strong." He pointed to it, "I know many heroes who have been chosen by ebony, it values those willing to stand out." Lee stood a little taller at that, levelling his wand with a look of pride and apprehension.

After a moment he too paid for his wand, and the two left with quiet thanks as the man disappeared into the back of the shop. Outside, Tenten's parents and their guides were standing, talking and Tenten was surprised to see Mr. Vass and her father holding rather impractically large, covered _things_. "That," she declared, "is far too large for sweets." Her father grinned and her mother made a strange little fluttering motion with her hands.

"It went well, then?" McGonagall asked, and Lee and Tenten nodded, grinning as they pulled out their wands. Mr. Vass seemed duly impressed with Lee's wand, which was admittedly very sleek, and her mother was quite complimentary regarding the detailing on Tenten's own wand.

Tenten was in the middle of boasting about her wand's loyalty when the thing in her father's hand made a noise and realization dawned. Carefully she lifted a bit of the covering and came face to face with a gorgeous gold and white owl, one she recognized as a barn owl. Gasping she shot up, glaring. "You said I couldn't have a pet," she said, and Lee made a small squealing noise when he realized his own owl must be with Mr. Vass.

"Well," her mother said, "we thought it was practical. You can name her," she said, "but you'll have to care for her or we're donating her to the Hogwarts Owlry." Tenten nodded vigerously and smiled, already knowing the name.

"Mui," she said, "that's her name." Her mother smiled in understanding but Lee cocked his head in question. "She was a female warrior in China," Tenten explained. "She created a fighting style specifically for women." Lee nodded at that, and turned to Mr. Vass.

"Is mine a boy or a girl?" he asked and Mr. Vass smiled.

"You also have a female," he said, "name her well." Lee took the cage with care, obviously thinking.

"Is it okay if I wait and think some more up?" he asked, dead serious, "it's important." Tenten smothered a laugh in her sleeve as Mr. Vass nodded with an air of gravitas. Behind her, Tenten's mother sighed.

"This has been very wonderful," she said, "but the boys need to be picked up soon." Tenten felt a pang at that, and Lee looked a little crest fallen, but he perked up.

"I will see you on September 1st, Tenten," he said, "maybe even on the platform." Tenten smiled.

"Yeah," she said, "we'll sit together!"

"Deal," Lee said, offering his hand.

"Deal," she said, and turned to catch up with her parents and professor McGonagall. She could not wait to show her brothers that she had an owl.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Two chapters in one night~ I know. You hate me.

I had so much fun making up the wands, I have some for all the rookie 9, team Gai, the jounin senseis, Yoshino and Shikaku and Inoichi. I also have a reason for the unusual amount of Asians suddenly flooding Hogwarts, but this is a fic not a fake history lesson.

And yes, that was Neji they talked about with the cherry wood wand. The wand lore thing said Asian wizards cherish it, and he seemed best suited to it. I considered dragon heartstrings as the core, because cherry is already rare and phoenix is rare on top of that, but in the end only two of the wands I made up are phoenix (the other is Naruto. If Ollivander thought those three wands were strange, the next batch is going to make him very worried for Hogwarts!).

I tell you though, the hardest wands to make were Sakura and Shikamaru - for opposite reasons - Sakura took forever to match up with even one wood, and I had too many for Shikamaru (like...7 woods at first, but I pared it down to 4 pretty quickly). Ahh, but it was worth it, and we won't see those guys' wands until at least chapter 6. In fact, we won't see any of the Konoha 11 (or Sasuke and Sai) other than that bit of Hinata until chapter 5.

For anyone wondering about Gai's name, Vass, it means 'iron' in Hungarian and was usually given to a very strong or brave person. I thought it fit.


	3. September 1st 1989 - Meetings Part 2

**Title: **Sept 1st, 1989 - Meetings, part 2

**Summary: **Tenten makes new friends, and finally departs for Hogwarts.

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **Tenten is hard to write :(

* * *

_September 1st, 1989_

_Kings Cross Station_

Though she'd had the letter since March, Tenten was still not entirely comfortable with the idea of walking through a wall to get to her train. Shun, bless him, had no such compunctions as he bounced around the family, chattering loudly. Except for Bo, who was working back in Edinburgh, the family had spent the last two days in London, sight seeing and getting ready to say goodbye. It wasn't until now though, staring at a blank brick wall that Tenten truly realised that she was getting ready to leave her brothers, sister and parents behind.

The thought was understandably scary.

"Come on," Shun said, "let me go first! I'll prove it's okay!" His insistence, and her mother's obvious nerves, were cut short by a gentle cough to their left.

A family stood just a little behind them, some looking annoyed, some understanding and a few amused. They were uniformly dark haired and each one had eyes so light they were almost white. It was quite alarming, to be blunt. The person who had gotten their attention was a beautiful woman currently holding the hand of a rather put out little girl. "First time going to the platform?" she asked, ignoring the younger woman tapping her foot behind her and the young man making annoyed, impatient sounds.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Tenten's mother said, stepping forward. "Not yours though, I take it?" The woman laughed slightly, and she gestured to the handful of school aged children behind her.

"Hoshu is in his final year," the boy she pointed out was the impatient one, and he did not so much as nod to them. "Tokuma and Azami are a year behind him," these two waved slightly, the girl winking at Ling rather blatantly, her foot still tapping. The woman then gestured to a boy who was standing away from the other three, instead standing with a shy looking girl with short hair, a cat hugged to her chest. "It is Neji's first year, however," she said and held out her free hand, "I am Hisami Hyūga," she pointed to the two youngest girls, "these are my daughters Hanabi and Hinata." Hanabi grinned widely at them, while Hinata offered a shy wave, juggling the car carefully as it purred loudly.

Tenten's mother was obviously delighted to have met a magical family, and she quickly named her children and husband, leaving Tenten to last. "And this," she said, "is Ting." She smiled wryly at her daughter, "it's her fault we're standing here gaping at the wall like idiots."

The oldest boy, Hoshu, scoffed at them, eyeing them with obvious distaste, and checked his watch, muttering something to the girl Azami. In return she shoved him, sending him stumbling, only for one of the men to chide them rapidly in what was likely Japanese.

"And that grumpy old curmudgeon is my husband, Hiashi who usually has the good manners to introduce himself." Sense his wife's light chiding the man cut his tirade short, and pointed to the wall.

"If you're so worried about the time, why don't you show them how it's done, Hoshu," he said in a manner that clearly said he wasn't not suggesting so much as demanding. The teenager nodded stiffly.

"Yessir," he said, and without another word grabbed a trolly with only two suitcases on it, no sign of an owl. The Tengs shuffled to the side to give him a clear run, and he shot them a glare as he walked calmly by. One moment it looked like he was going to crash, the next he was simply _gone_.

Tenten shivered and Azami sighed explosively. "I can't help but wish he'd crash into it some year," she said loudly and one of the two men Hisami had not introduced gently smacked her on the head.

"Be good, Azami," he said, "your mother would be ashamed to see you acting up in front of strangers."

Azami was not impressed. "Well, if she cares so much she can come next year and tell me herself." The man scowled at that, but said nothing.

"Oh stop bickering with your daughter," the last man, who was not that much older than Azami by the looks of it, said, "get going Mimi," the girl flushed at the name but grabbed the trolly to her left with the covered cage on it. Unlike Hoshu she didn't walk toward the wall, instead running for it, hair trailing behind her. Her father and the other man shook their heads in amusement, and Tokuma, who Tenten dubbed The Quiet One of the trio took up the last trolly without prompting.

He offered a little wave as he walked past the Tengs, winking as he vanished through. Hinata squeaked and looked down at the cat in her arms. "He won't forget Kyo, will he?" she asked, voice wavering and the last boy in the group shook his head.

"He hasn't for the last five years," he said calmly. "Come along," he told her, "you go first just to make sure." Hinata nodded firmly at that, and Neji spared a glance for his youngest cousin, who was scowling openly at her sister. "Hanabi," he said softly, "would you carry Sho for me?" even as he spoke he was unhooking the cage atop his trolly and offering it to her, and the little girl disentangled herself from her mother with wide, awed eyes.

"Don't jostle him," her father warned, eyes sharp, and Hanabi nodded firmly, turning to face the barrier. She hesitated for a moment, but her father's stern glance and mother's supportive smile had her running for it after only a second. Shun, bored with waiting bounced up to Tenten.

"Can I carry Mui in?" he asked, "I'll be gentle!" Tenten shook her head.

"Not on your life," she said, "but you may as well go now, unless," she looked over to Neji, who was watching them in a detached, patient way, "unless Neji wanted to make sure Sho was okay..." Neji shook his head.

"Go," he said simply, "Hinata can keep Hanabi in line." His uncles, well presumably uncles, looked dubious at best and Hisami's rueful smile inferred disagreement but Shun did not need another invitation and he stopped only long enough to stick his tongue out at his sister. Tao, who was almost as rambunctious as his little brother, did not even wait for permission before he rushed after him. Ling made a strangled noise at that, and followed, starting to chide the nine year old even before he went through the wall.

Tenten flushed at the display as Fan laughed and her mother and father hid their smiles. Neji seemed rather unimpressed with her brothers' display, something both Tenten and Fan were acutely aware of, but he didn't say anything about it. "Since it's your first time, would you like to go first?" he asked Tenten and she nodded, hoping to see Lee.

"I'll come with you," Fan said, and together the two siblings jogged for the wall. Tenten was not ashamed to admit she closed her eyes as they approached, bracing for impact and then-

She was there. Ling was chiding Tao and Shun loudly, to the amusement of a few watchers, and the Hyūga children stood even further off. Hoshu wasn't even with his cousin, instead talking to a knot of older boys, while Tokuma and Azami were talking with Hinata and Hanabi. Tenten's scattered attention was caught very quickly however, by the huge scarlet train. It was beautiful and a several people were already piling on. She was unable to study it, as she was gently tugged to the left, away from the barrier.

Blinking she cocked her head at Tokuma, who let her go with a smile. "Don't want Neji to crash," he said, "the barrier won't let anyone pass if someone is in front of it." Tenten flushed at that, opening her mouth to apologize, but was cut off by the arrival of the aforementioned boy. He didn't _look_ like he'd crashed at any point. Tokuma must have realized why she looked so horrified as he snickered. "Neji's fine," he said, "see."

Neji did seem fine as he approached them, taking his owl from his youngest cousin and carefully strapping the cage back down. Anything Tokuma may have said was cut off by a loud voice calling his name. "Whoops," he said, "friends call," he dropped a kiss onto Hanabi's head and took his cat from Hinata with a 'thank you' as he walked by. "Have fun Neji," he called over his shoulder, "make friends!"

Neji scowled at the instruction, the look smoothing into the cool indifference of earlier when his cousin Azami laughed and left without a word, just as the adults came through. "Oh my," Jinghua said, peering around at the huge train and strangely dressed people. "How marvellous."

Mrs. Hyūga hummed in response, eyeing her daughters as they watched the crowd with unabashed interest. She smiled at her nephew, "thank you for that Neji," she said. Tenten did not understand the thanks, but Neji seemed to as he nodded to show understanding. Tenten's parents managed to corral her brothers with a few sharp words, hauling them over to Tenten. Her mother looked close to crying, and Shun was shuffling around awkwardly, refusing to look at her.

"Oh Ting," her mother said at last. "If you get homesick, don't be afraid to contact us, okay?" Tenten nodded, refusing to cry, and was surprised when Shun and Tao both ran forward, throwing their arms around her.

"You gotta write once a month, okay Tenten?" Shun said, dark eyes serious, "and tell us lots of good stories." Tenten smiled at her youngest brothers, brushing tears off Tao's face.

"Be tough," she told them, "don't let Duncan Campbell bully you, understand." Tao nodded. "What do you do if he picks a fight?"

Tao smiled. "Put him down in two hits," he said, voice watery but expression set. Tenten nodded, accepting hugs from Ling and Fan, marvelling at the way they towered over her now, before finally coming to her father. Like her mother, tears shone in her eyes, and he pulled her into a big hug, squeezing tight.

"Be safe," he told her, "but more than that, be amazing." Tenten nodded, kissing him on the cheek before pulling away.

"I'm always amazing," Tenten said, "just you watch me." She turned away from them at that, surprised to see the Hyūga family was done with it's goodbyes. Even more surprising was the fact Neji seemed to be waiting for her. She quickly made her way to him, noting that they had five minutes before they had to be on the train.

"Do you mind sitting together, Ting?" the boy asked her, looking a little awkward. "I could sit with Tokuma, but I don't really know any of his friends," he trailed off. "Unless you don't want to, of course." Tenten smiled at him.

"I don't mind, but I go by Tenten" she said, "but I've got to find a friend." Neji seemed confused by that, or maybe the nickname, and he chanced a look at her family.

"Aren't you muggleborn?" he asked.

"I met someone while I was shopping," she said, "his name was Lee. He's muggleborn too," she explained. Neji nodded in understanding, and after a moment gestured to get her on the train.

"We'll find a compartment and then look for him," he offered, "or check to see if he found one first." The idea made sense to Tenten, and she stepped onto the train without a second thought, careful not to catch the trolly on the slight dip between the train and the platform.

Inside the train was no more spacious than a muggle one, and quite busy. Two red haired boys were peering into various cabins, closing some doors quickly. They caught sight of Tenten and Neji and smiled, waving.

"Hello," the first one said. "I'm Fred."

"And I'm George," the other said. They were identical, right down to the last freckle, and Tenten wondered how she'd ever keep them apart.

"I'm Ting Teng," she said, "I prefer Tenten though." The boys nodded in unison, and turned to Neji. The one she was pretty sure was Fred pointed to him.

"You..." he said.

"...are definitely..."

"...a Hyūga." The two spoke, switching off sentences. Neji nodded coolly at that, not so much as blinking. "We met your cousin," the red head continued, "right berk."

Neji didn't seem terribly offended. "Probably Hoshu then," he said. The boys considered that.

"You've got a lot of cousins here?" he asked, Neji shrugged.

"Three right now," he said, "two graduated last year, one will join next year." He saw Tenten's questioning glance. "Hanabi's only six right now."

Fred and George seemed to be cataloguing the information. "Big family," one of them finally said and Neji levelled him with an unimpressed look.

"You would know," he said, though the twin's response was interrupted by a deeper voice.

"Fred, George," the speaker was a tall boy with equally red hair and a similar face. "Stop torturing your year mates and go find somewhere to sit," he turned to Neji and Tenten with a smile. "I'm Charlie Weasley, their old brother. Don't hold it against me please." He was wearing his school robes despite the train having not left yet, and Tenten noted a silvery P on one shoulder. "Need help?"

Neji shook his head, but Tenten shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't suppose you've seen a boy named Lee?" she asked. "Probably dressed like a muggle, dark hair, dark eyes...loud..." she knew it wasn't a lot to go on, but she had promised to sit with him. Charlie frowned as he thought, before he shook his head.

"Sorry," he said, "but I can help you look." He eyed her. "Are you related?" Tenten blinked, and supposed by the description it may sound like she was looking for a cousin or something.

"Just friends," she said, "but if you haven't seen him we'll just get going." Charlie seemed okay with that, as he turned to talk to his brothers without saying anything else. Neji took it upon himself to open the first compartment, closing it with a quiet 'sorry'.

"All girls," he explained to Tenten, and she nodded in understanding, opening the door closest to her. She was somewhat surprised to see Neji's cousin Tokuma there, and he smiled at her. "Sorry Tokuma," she said and he waved the apology off.

"Everything alright?" he asked, "Neji didn't abandon you did he?" Behind her, Neji huffed in mild indignation, but said nothing. Tenten giggled.

"No, he's right here. I'm just looking for someone." One of Tokuma's friends, a very blonde girl, cocked her head.

"Need help luv?" she asked, her accent thick and Irish.

"No thanks," Tenten said, "but the offer's appreciated." The four teens shrugged at that, waving goodbye and Tenten shared a look with Neji. "Just keep checking?" she suggested and Neji shrugged in agreement.

"If we find an empty one we can settle in there and then look for your friend." Tenten agreed with the plan, and with that they set out on their mission to find Lee.

As it turned out, they found Lee sitting in a compartment with a dark skinned boy, talking loudly and excitedly about something called Quidditch. Neji sighed in relief at finding him – they'd checked almost ten compartments total – and Lee leapt to his feet upon seeing Tenten, pulling her into a hug.

"Tenten!" he said, "I was about to start looking for you!"

"Good thing you didn't," she said, "we'd probably have ended up chasing one another all across the train!" Neji, for his part, now seemed unsure of what to do, and blinked in obvious shock when Lee grabbed his hand and shook. Vigorously.

"Hello! I am Lee Rock," he beamed at Neji, "you are?"

"Neji Hyūga," he said, detracting his hand slowly. "Pleasure to meet you." In the compartment the third boy whistled lowly.

"A Hyūga," he smiled, "slumming it a bit, aren't you mate?" Neji's glare was icy, and he held up his hands in surrender. "No hard feelings," he said, "just didn't think purebloods like you're lot liked to hang around with lowly halfbloods and muggleborns." Neji's glare didn't lessen in the least at that.

"Well you learn something everyday," he said stiffly and Tenten frowned, not understanding what a pureblood was. Neji saw her frown and his expression shifted into something a little less homicidal. "Pureblood families are families with almost no muggleborns or muggles in them," he explained, "Hinata and Hanabi are purebloods, I think my great-great grandmother was the last muggleborn in their family, but I am technically a halfblood."

"But," Tenten said, "your mother was a witch, right?" Neji nodded, stumbling when Lee yanked himself and Tenten into the compartment, closing the door behind him.

"A pureblood specifically only counts if all four grandparents are magical," the unnamed boy explained. "My family's almost pureblood, I got one grandma who's a muggle." He eyed Neji. "We got off on the wrong foot," he said, offering his hand, "I'm _also_ Lee. Lee Jordan, to be exact." Neji took the hand after a moment.

"Well met, Lee Jordan," he said and Tenten clapped her hands, much to the confusion of the boys.

"I'm sorry," she said, "it's just, I was so worried about making friends, and here we are!" Even as she spoke the door opened, and the twins from before appeared.

"Oh drat," one of them said, "everywhere's full."

"So it seems," Neji muttered but the Lees just smiled and, after a few moments of reconfiguration, made room for the two boys. "Or not," the long haired boy said with a sigh. He was now on a bench with Tenten and Lee, squished against the window and not looking very happy.

Fred, George and Lee Jordan weren't faring any better, but didn't seem fussed about it, and one of the twins leaned forward, grinning. "So what are we talking about?" he asked and Neji sighed.

"My pedigree."

The twins frowned in confusion while Lee Jordan covered a laughed. "What, like a dog?" the slightly quieter twin asked. Neji looked at him blankly for moment, letting the cabin fall into an awkward silence before he simply replied.

"No."

Tenten choked on a laugh at the deadpan reply. "You're great fun, I can tell," twin one said, "but who cares about blood lines? Here's the important question, what houses do you think you're going to get?"

Tenten and Lee shared a glance and shrugged. "I don't know enough about them," she said, "though professor McGonagall was the one who showed me around Diagon Alley." The twins beamed.

"Prof. McGonagall is the head of our house," twin two said and Lee Jordan cocked a brow.

"You're first years, aren't you?" he asked and they nodded.

"Doesn't matter though, Weasleys are always in Gryffindor," twin one said.

"Mum, dad, all our brothers, and even mum's brothers. Every last one of them wore the red and gold," Neji raised an eyebrow.

"How dedicated," he said and the twins grinned.

"What about you?" they asked, "do all Hyūga's end up in the snake pit?" Neji shook his head.

"Hardly," he said. "Azami is a Gryffindor, Tokuma is a Ravenclaw, Kou and Egao who graduated last year were both Hufflpuffs." He was now listing people with surprising ease, and Tenten wondered how big his family was. "My father and Hiashi-sama were both Slytherins, like Hoshu whom you've met, but mother was a Gryffindor, and Hisami-basan was a Hufflepuff." He sighed, looking annoyed. "But if you must know, I think I'd enjoy Ravenclaw."

Tenten cocked her head. "What's the difference?"

Twin one smiled, "well..."

"...Slytherin's the bad house," twin two said bluntly, though Neji bristled, "all the dark wizards from the last war were Slytherins."

"War?" Lee asked, and Lee Jordan, the twins and Neji blinked in shock, as if it never occurred to them the muggleborns wouldn't know about the war. As it was, Tenten's book about female warriors and politicians had discussed a few of the women on either side of the war, including Amelia Bones and Bellatrix Lestrange. She shuddered at the thought of the last one.

"It was a war lead by a man named Voldemort," she explained, "he wanted to get rid of muggleborn witches and wizards." She noticed the looks the wizard born children were giving her and frowned. "What?"

"His name," Neji explained carefully, "well, most people don't say it," he smiled apologetically, "but you're right. He was an extremist who collected followers from the pureblood houses, and some halfbloods, to try and get rid of muggleborns." He scoffed, "and not all the worst wizards were Slytherins," he said. "Sirius Black was a Gryffindor," he said, "and Rabastan Lestrange was a Ravenclaw." The twins rolled their eyes.

"But both came from families that were totally Slytherins," they pointed out and Neji crossed his arms defiantly, eyes cool with dislike, but said nothing.

"I think I want Gryffindor," Lee Jordan said stopping the group from falling into an awkward silence or a fight. "They're the brave and the bold," he told Tenten and Lee. "Ravenclaw is for know it alls and go getters, and Hufflepuff is for well, everyone else." The twins snickered and Lee frowned.

"I thought it was for those who were loyal and hard working," he said. "Nothing wrong with loyalty."

"I'd like to be a Ravenclaw," Tenten said after a moment of consideration, "but Gryffindor sounds alright." Lee nodded as if agreeing.

"I'd like Gryffindor or Hufflepuff," he sniffed, "I don't care what anyone says." Tenten smiled at him, and no one managed another word in because there was a knock on the door and a woman with a trolly of sweets appeared.

"Anything off the trolly dears?" she asked. The twins shook their heads but Lee Jordan and Neji both pulled out a few sickles.

"How about you?" Lee Jordan asked them, and Tenten shrugged.

"What's good?" she asked. The twins' eyes rounded in realization and they grinned rather evilly.

"That's right, you and Lee won't have had any of these before," twin one said.

To Tenten's surprise Neji was also smiling, almost wickedly. "Allow us to educate you, Miss. Teng," he said in mock seriousness and Tenten grinned in reply.

"My pleasure, Mr. Hyūga," she said, "where do we start?" The boys from wizarding families shared a look.

"How do you feel about adventure?" twin one asked, and _that,_ friends,was the start of a very entertaining train ride for all involved.

* * *

Writing Lee and Lee Jordan in the same year may have been a mistake...but that's OK. This chapter was so objectively bad the first draft though, like, there was exposition all up in the house. This is better.

Also, writing Neji in a compartment with the twins and two Lees was fun - it's hard to write AU Neji because he's not quite as nihilistic as canon!Neji, but still kind of dislikes talking to people. Next up! The Sorting, and then we start involving the Rookie 9 characters (and the Sand siblings~).

I should note - pairings won't really pop up for a while, but I can tell with 100% certainty there will Shikamaru/Neji. In fact, if I write Naruto fic, there is a 97% chance it will be ShikaNeji in some way.


	4. September 1st 1989 - The Sorting

**Title: **Sept 1st, 1989 - The Sorting

**Summary: **The sorting takes place, and Tenten gets in a fight over candied beets.

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **(spoiler alert: the beets aren't really a big deal)

* * *

Though he would never admit it, Neji was more than glad to be out of the boat and on dry ground. Next to him Tenten seemed in agreement, though Lee seemed too entranced by the school to really notice the change. Not that Neji blamed him it was huge, imposing in it's height. Banners flapped in the night wind from tall towers, and Neji stumbled as someone pushed him forward.

"Apologies Neji," Lee said, "I was distracted." He grinned at Neji as the large man named Hagrid called for everyone to keep up, the three new friends keeping pace as they approached the castle. To be honest, Neji did not mind Lee all that much despite his exuberance, and Tenten was tolerable. They'd gotten separated from Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins back when getting into the boats, and Neji was quite all right with that.

As they got closer to the castle, Neji picked up on Tenten and Lee's increasing nerves, and he tried to think of a way to calm them down. Hinata and Hanabi were easy, but he'd had years of practice, and so after a few moments of thinking he decided to just let it go. They could handle themselves.

Instead he watched their year mates, intrigued. Counting carefully he was surprised to find only 29 students total, a small group to be certain. He supposed the war had something to do with it, making it so people did not want to risk having children. Tokuma's year was certainly larger, almost double the amount if Tokuma was telling the truth. His musing were cut short by the arrival of the group at the large double doors into Hogwarts. The group watched in awe as the very large Hagrid pushed them open, revealing a candlelit indoors.

As one they entered, breaths held and eyes wide. Even Neji, who had not been raised to show an excess of emotion, was openly amazed. Hagrid chuckled at the looks on their faces, but made no move to follow them in. "You lot behave," he told them, "Professor McGonagall is dealin' with you now." Tenten and Lee, and one other girl a bit ahead of them, all waved as a tall, severe woman appeared, and she nodded regally to them.

"Welcome," she said, her accent similar to Tenten's, "to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, in a few minutes you will join your classmates at the tables inside, but before you do this you will be sorted into house – Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Your house is there to support you and help you in your time here in Hogwarts. As such, houses are praised as one, and punished in one. Good behaviour will win you points, and bad behaviour will lose you points, understand?" There was a mumbled agreement, which appeared to be enough as the witch turned sharply on her heel.

"Now, I will call your name, you shall sit upon the stool, and once sorted you will sit with your house." She did not allow time for questions, as once she was done speaking the doors to the Great Hall swung open.

If Neji was impressed by the entrance hall, the Great Hall was nothing short of astounding. Tokuma had once tried to explain it to him, but the picture Neji had constructed from his ramblings had nothing on what was before him. Next to him, Lee's eyes were wide, jaw hanging open and Neji spared a moment to disapprove. "Close your mouth Lee," he said, "try not to look too out of place." Lee flashed him a smile at that, and the first years ventured into the hall.

The ceiling was what amazed Neji the most, it was a perfect replication of the slightly cloudy night sky outside. The stars shone without interference from city lights, and the moon hung high, barely a sliver in the sky. Students watched the new students, a sea of black clad in silly hats. Tenten tapped him on the shoulder, "which house is which?"

Neji pointed to the far left, "Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor," he said, but did not get to explain anything further to the two muggleborns as the hat at the far end of the hall promptly started to sing.

_In ancient days of yesteryear_

_Four friends came from far and near_

_And made a school of magics old,_

_Which today still stands here._

_It was to me the four left the job_

_Of sorting out the unruly mob,_

_who came into their hallowed halls,_

_bereft of knowledge in their knobs._

_Sweet Helga asked of me,_

_To help her teach those who worked loyally._

_Clever Rowena ever dear,_

_Taught those of visions smart and clear,_

_While Godric Gryffindor to himself took,_

_Those who would no cowardic brook._

_And lastly sly Salazar,_

_Coached those who were most cunning by far._

_Though now long gone down to the one_

_You stand before me as has always been done,_

_To be sorted by me, a simple hat,_

_Who has yet to be wrong in any fashion._

With that the hat went silent again, and the first years started to clap a moment behind the teachers and the upperclassmen. McGonagall allowed the applause for a few long moments, before she cleared her throat and silence reigned.

"When I call your name, you will come up, sit on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head." She opened her scroll with a snap, "Appleby, Begonia," she called. A tiny golden haired girl bustled forward, looking nervous, and hauled herself onto the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on her head, watching as it fell down only to be stopped by her nose. The hat sat where it was only a few brief moments before it called out.

"Ravenclaw!" The table second closet to the left broke into applause, more polite claps issuing from other tables, and young Begonia was given a seat at the end of the table next to a thin red haired boy.

"Axton, Vance."

This time a bulky brown haired boy stepped up, and the hat barely touched his head before the it yelled out, "Hufflepuff!" much to the pleasure of the most populated table. Somewhere around 'Diggory, Cedric' Neji stopped paying real attention to the names and more on the people. Slytherin had taken only one student to far, a boy named Bletchly while Hufflepuff had three and two had gone to Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor none. Neither the Gryffindors nor the Slytherins seemed entirely happy about it either, and Hufflepuff table looked to him a little crowded.

It was, admittedly, a bit of a shock to him when his name was called, as he'd been studying the unhappy Gryffindor table at the time. "Hyūga Neji," the professor called, and Neji schooled his face into something smooth and calm. Tenten smiled at him as he walked past, and he almost rolled his eyes at Lee's thumbs up. He didn't hesitate at all when sitting down, not blinking as the floppy hat slid slightly over his eyes.

_Ah,_ a dry, male voice sounded in his head. _Another Hyūga. Such a varied lot you are, I see here many things. Stubborn pride, cunning ambition, a great intellect. You're interested in Ravenclaw, are you?_

Neji thought about it for a moment. _I enjoy knowledge_, he said finally and the hat chuckled.

_A mind like yours, yes, but I rather think you would benefit from being in the house of your father._ Neji flinched at the idea of close quarters with Hoshu, even if just for a year, but did not argue. At least it wasn't trying to put him in Gryffindor. _No, you're not a Gryffindor boy. Brave, yes, but you lack a certain something the house goes for. Perhaps a bit too _much _discretion to offset your valour. Yes, I see it now, it is definitely:_

"Slytherin!"

Hearing the name aloud so suddenly after the strange conversation, Neji almost forgot it was talking about him, and was surprised by how pleased Slytherin house looked. Of course, no one was clapping louder than Tokuma and Neji shot him a fondly exasperated look before he took the seat offered to him across from Bletchly and next to a tall dark skinned boy.

"Welcome to Slytherin," the boy said, voice deep. "I'm Isaiah Selwyn, your fifth year prefect." He offered a hand, and Neji took it, barely letting go before Bletchly offered his own.

"Miles Cletchly. Call me Miles please. I thought I was going to be the only one," he told Neji, "though Warrington will probably join us, Pucey too. Not sure about girls though," he scratched his straw blond hair, stopping to clap once when Johnston, Angelina, was sorted into Gryffindor.

Selwyn, who was watching the sorting, seemed surprised by the speed with which the next person – Lee Jordan – was also sorted into Gryffindor. "He'll be pleased," Neji noted softly, and Selwyn turned a questioning gaze on him. "We sat together on the train," Neji said.

"Was he the alright sort?" Selwyn asked, "you know, for a Gryffindor." Neji considered it.

"He got along well with the Weasley twins," he said and a few nearby people groaned at the information that yet two more Weasleys would be joining the hoard. "But other than that he wasn't intolerable." A gorgeous dark haired girl sitting two down from Bletchly leaned toward him, dark eyes shrewd.

"Were you stuck with the three of them the entire time?" she asked, and Neji nodded. "Alone?"

Neji's answer was delayed by Montague joining them as the Slytherins clapped and hooted. He sat down heavily next to Bletchly, and the blond boy clapped him heavily on the back. The older years greeted him with clipped introductions before people were back on Neji, looking expectant.

"No," he said finally remembering the girl's question. "I was with two much more civilized people as well." The Slytherins seemed to pick up on his unwillingness to share and pulled back, hooting as the petite Grace Moon joined them. She sat next to Neji, smiling shyly and tucking copper curls behind her ear.

"Hello," she said, "I'm Grace," she offered a hand and Neji sighed, taking it and hoping he didn't have to do this with every new housemate. He would tire of it quickly, to say the least.

"Neji," was all he said in return, and opted to pointedly watch the rest of the sorting in hopes people would leave him alone. Just in time, too because a thin brown haired boy was declared Slytherin just as Neji turned to watch, and he found himself clapping with a notable lack of enthusiasm.

"See Adrian!" Bletchly's voice carried as the boy came up to them, dark eyes blank. "I told you there was nothing to worry about," he grinned to the table, "Pucey here was worried he'd end up in Ravenclaw."

Selwyn shrugged. "Nothing wrong with Ravenclaw," he said, "better than Hufflepuff." Neji rolled his eyes at the common and stereotypical sentiment, perking up when Lee was called forward. Grace seemed to notice his interest because she too watch the boy _bounce_ up to the stool.

"You know him?" she asked and Neji shrugged.

"We met on the train," he told her. "He's alright. Rather loud -" anything else he may have said was cut off by a roar when the hat called Gryffindor, coming from the aforementioned table.

Grace hummed at that and glanced at him slyly, "I hope you weren't betting on friendship," she said simply, and Neji didn't deign to respond.

Other than Lee there were no other R names, but there were three S names. Silverstein, Stella, went to Hufflepuff while Spinnet, Alicia and Stimpson, Patricia joined Gryffindor. Then it was Tenten, and the muggleborn girl approached the stool with grace befitting someone much less nervous than she had been.

"Who's she?" Montague asked, notably interested, and Moon rolled her eyes.

"Ting Teng," she said, "weren't you paying attention?"

"Obviously not," Pucey muttered, "I don't recognize the name."

The others murmured agreements and Neji opted to nip that speculation at the bud. "Well she's muggleborn," he said, "I'd be impressed if you'd bothered to learn about any of them at all." Pucey cocked an eyebrow at the tone, but Miles and Montague grumbled in disgust at the assertion. Moon didn't seem phased.

Neji clapped when the hat, after a minute, decided on Ravenclaw, and suppressed a smile when he saw Tokuma seat the girl next to himself. As he wasn't interested in any of the other people, Neji turned his attention to the teachers.

Right away he caught the eye of his own head of house, Professor Snape, who raised an eyebrow as their gazes met. Neji also recognized Professors Sprout and Fltiwick as the heads of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, as well as the herbology and charms teachers. There was, of course, Professor Dumbledore, seated in the middle watching the sorting with seemingly rapt attention. Neji did not recognize anyone else, however, though a rather ragged looking man with only one arm was likely to be Professor Kettleburn.

The sorting finished with a Zettesberg, Anna joining Slytherin table. She'd barely sat down when the headmaster stood, smiling down at his students.

"And so," he said, voice ringing clear, "another year is started here in Hogwarts, and another promising batch of students joins us. We'll have much to talk about before the night is over," he said, "but before that food! So, here's supper and as the French say, bon appétit!"

With those two words, the food appeared on the previously empty tables, and the first years jumped slightly before several grinned widely. Neji waited patiently as Montague and Thibault argued over some garlic mashed potatoes, accepting a plate of chicken from Pucey.

Across the table and facing him Tenten and Tokuma were in a heated battle over what looked to be candied beets. When Tenten caught Neji's bemused gaze both Tokuma and herself they paused only long enough to wave before they went back to heaping the purple vegetables onto their plates.

"Hyūga?" Neji jerked as Pucey looked at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry Pucey," he said, "my cousin caught my eye is all." Pucey shrugged.

"It's fine, and call me Adrian please. I was asking though, if you want to come with us tomorrow and get to know the school." Next to him Moon nodded.

"It's got to be good luck, getting here on a Friday, we should know where out classes are by Monday," the other first years nodded, though a few of the older years shared rather suspicious glances with one another, smirking. Neji let the chatter wash over him, nodded when appropriate and focusing on his chicken more than anything. By chance the bowl of beets passed under his nose, and he took the chance to spear one onto his fork, popping it into his mouth and chewing slowly.

Not bad, he thought, not bad at all.

* * *

I apologize for the pure shite that is the sorting song. There are no excuses - I'm just bad at rhyming. Luckily, next year's narrator won't pay attention and I won't be forced to write another full one~

I should note - the following characters' houses are not yet set in stone, if you have a suggestion do tell:

Kiba (currently Hufflepuff)  
Shino (currently Hufflepuff)  
Kankuro (currently Slytherin)


	5. September 2nd 1989 - Letters Home

**Title: **Sept 2nd, 1989 - Letters Home

**Summary:** Neji, Tenten and Lee write letters home detailing their first night at Hogwarts, and get together to explore their new surroundings.

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **Reviews are appreciated, as are favs and follows, so thanks to anyone who has done one of those (or all of those) so far! if you've questions about this 'verse do not hesitate to ask - I've tried not to change any one character too much but people like Gaara, Sasuke and Itachi, Neji and Naruto all had slightly different lives in the HP world, so they will somewhat changed. Also note, unlike JKR I use the actual calender for the year I'm writing in, which is why class won't start until Sept. 4th, in 1989 Sept. 1st was a Friday.

* * *

_Sept 2nd, 1989_

_Hogwarts – Outgoing correspondences_

_Dear Mama and Baba,_

I am writing you on Sept. 2nd just after lunch, as I spent most of the morning exploring the school. It is very large, and I suspect the school was designed by people who actually hate children, as the stairs move without any warning. Me, Cara Yonwin and Roger Davies all got lost right after breakfast because the stair case we came up was gone when we got back. We only got back because a painting of a large opera singer pointed us the right way. Can you imagine, talking pictures! And it wasn't just her, Cara had a good talk with a pair of sister on the second floor who were killed in 1202. Well, that's what they say happened anyway, but they would not say why they were executed, and a different painting said they were 'simplifying' the story.

Cara and Roger are only two of my housemates. I am in Ravenclaw, which is for people who love to learn and are smart. You will never believe how they decided our houses, it was a talking hat! He told me I would be a good Gryffindor or even a Hufflepuff, but I would do best in Ravenclaw. I hope he is right. I have seven year mates in my house, Tokuma says ours is the smallest year in the school because of the war. Among my year mates I am the only person without a witch or wizard in my family. I share a room with three other girls. They are Cara who I mentioned, Ysobel Elsegood and Begonia Appleby. Cara is the only one who has gone to a muggle school like me, and Begonia likes to talk a lot, Ysobel mostly reads and brushes her hair which is very long. The boys' names are Roger Davies, Edgar Yates and Tate Masters. They are all very nice and I like all of the people I've met so far.

Lee was sorted into Gryffindor, who Tate says are the brave 'hot-head' house. Tate has two sisters and a brother in Gryffindor, so I guess he would know. I do not know if Lee is a hot head, but I know he is very brave. I travelled with him on the train, as well as Neji who you met and three other boys. There were twins named Fred and George Weasley who I cannot keep apart. I call them twin one and twin two, and a boy named Lee Jordan. I call him by his full name so I don't confuse him with the first Lee. The twins and Lee Jordan are also in Gryffindor with Lee, which is good because they wanted to go there.

Neji was sorted into Slytherin, which some people say is the house where dark witches and wizards go, but I do not think Neji will be evil when he grows up. He is very quiet and did not like the twins much, but he did not mind me and Lee, even though we are muggleborn. I do not know why, but people say Slytherins hate muggleborns. I have not talked to any Slytherins except Neji so I cannot say if this is true, but it seems an unfair thing to say. I am to meet up with Lee and Neji at two o'clock, we don't see each other much other than in classes but I want to be friends even if we are in different houses.

Mama, you will be happy to know that they are feeding us very well, though I will miss your popiah a lot. I do not know who makes the food here, but I do not think they have ever been to Fujian. You don't have to worry about me eating my greens however, our sixth year prefect is Tokuma. You will remember him from the train station, though he did not say much. Tokuma makes sure I eat my vegetables, though he keeps trying to take my beets. Tokuma has been very helpful and nice and has told my classmates a lot of stories about the school. He knows a lot and I really like him because he is so friendly.

Because we came on a Friday I have only met two teachers so far, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. Professor Flitwick is my head of house, he is a very tiny man and people say he is maybe half-elf, but that it is rude to ask, so they do not know for certain. He only stopped by last night to say hello, but he will teach me charms, which is my last class on Monday. Our first class is to be Defence Against the Dark Arts, which sounds terribly exciting to me. Tokuma says they have a problem keeping teachers for the course and he has had a different one every year. Last years was not very good he said, and she left after having what he calls a 'fit of the nerves'. I do not know what that means, but I hear she cried a lot and chopped off all her hair.

The new DADA professor (that is the short way of saying it as it is a very long name for a class) is a man named Bresnaha. Professor Bresnaha is on loan from a school in Ireland and will only stay the year, so Tokuma says not to get attached. He also says that about Professor Sidus who is retiring after thirty five years. He teaches Astronomy which I will not have until Friday. Tokuma says that is a bit of good luck because we take it at midnight.

I am afraid I do not have much else to write you because I am so new here. I will write you again next Saturday after I have had all my classes. Please give my love to Ling, Bo, Fan, Tao and Shun, and I hope Baba is feeling well.

_Lots of love,_

_Tenten._

PS – please remember to give Mui a treat once she makes it home.

PPS – because I know Bo will ask, Tokuma is an alright sort if you don't mind the scary eyes all his family has.

_Dear Hinata,_

Hogwarts has been interesting so far, even though I have only been here for a night and a bit of a day. I have a few letters to write other than yours, so I am sorry if this is shorter than you were hoping. I've not had any classes yet, so I am rather lacking in anything to talk about.

I guess I should start by telling you, I was sorted into Slytherin. Luckily I have not had to deal with Hoshu at all, in fact the only older students I've talked to are the fifth year prefects, Isaiah Selwyn and Ophelia Golightly. They aren''t all that interesting, though Ophelia reminds me a bit of a cat playing with some mice.

Slytherin is tied with Gryffindor for most students, which just means there are a lot of people who try to talk to me. I know that sounds unsociable, but I find a number of them to be somewhat unlikable. Specifically Bletchly and Warrington, who are both very loud and seem to truly believe they are better than everyone else (current evidence suggests that's not true).

There are some problems because a boys vs. girls mentality is becoming apparent in our year, even. Somehow, I have joined the girls' side, as a girl named Grace Moon as adopted me. She seems to think I am shy and need someone to look out for me. This has become awkward despite only one day here, as Bletchly obviously dislikes me as much as I dislike him. Pucey does not seem to mind, so if I need to I can probably sit with him.

Other than the house drama, things have been alright. The girls and Pucey and I walked around finding our classes and the library, and just getting to know the school. I am going to meet up with Tenten (the girl from the train station) and a boy named Lee in a little bit. We are going to compare classes, hopefully I will have more classes with Tenten. I like Lee, but I do not like his housemates so far. I suppose it doesn't matter too much, and I will live with it either way.

I hope you're well, and make sure Hanabi gets the letter I enclosed with this one. I have sent ojisama and obasama a joint letter, so there is no need to pass on regards from me, unless maybe to Kō, as I Know he is home until October.

_Much love,_

_Neji._

_Dear Mr. Vass_

I am writing you this letter because I have already written to Tatianna and Noah and Ben and the Lockes, and it did not seem right to leave you out. I hope you do not mind..

I was sorted into Gryffindor last night, and am very happy. There's a bit of a problem because there is another boy named Lee in the same year in Gryffindor, but he's quite lively and fun to be around. I share a dorm with him, Fred and George Weasley and a boy named Kenneth Towler. He is muggleborn like me, and was very nervous until the twins told him there's not a big difference between wizard born children and those of us who only learned a while ago. I admit, I am a little jealous that Kenneth has known since April, he says a teacher came to talk to him about it, I guess he does not need a social worker.

Gryffindor is very welcoming and warm, and the prefects have been very helpful with everything and even offered to show us where our classes will be. I have met two of Fred and George's siblings, they have five total but one has already graduated and the other two are too young to be here. Percy is very bookish and proper, not like the twins at all and they tease him, but Charlie is very relaxed and a good prefect to have. He is also the quidditch captain and a good seeker. Or so I'm told. I do not entirely know what that means but the boys have assured me they will teach me and Kenneth about the sport.

I have made other friends as well, named Neji and Tenten (I think you will remember her) though they were sorted into different houses.. Neji Hy_ū_ga is very quiet and serious and was sorted into Slytherin, and though people say that is a bad thing I do not care. I like him and we will continue to be good friends if he wishes it. Tenten is in Ravenclaw. She seems happy and was talking to someone a lot last night at supper.

I am going to meet the two of them in a few minutes, and maybe make friends with some of the portraits. I did not realize magical pictures moved, but they are very charming and the one who guards Gryffindor tower seems to like me. My favourite is a knight I met earlier today when I got lost going to breakfast. Luckily a Hufflepuff prefect found me and took me to the Hall before it was over.

I hope this letter finds you in youthful spirits and that you are feeling well. I am enjoying myself and am not yet homesick, which is of course good.

Best wishes,

Lee Rock.

PS – after much deliberating I have named my owl. Her name is Nut, because she likes nuts and because Tianna says it is the name of an Egyptian goddess of the sky.

Lee sealed the letter with a small flourish, smiling proudly at his pile. There was one for each person back home, and Mr. Vass besides. He'd stayed in his dorm room to write them as the common room was a bit crowded. Standing and stretching, the black haired boy waved goodbye to Kenneth, who was likewise writing. The fifth boy in their dorm was a tiny boy with dark brown hair and wide grey eyes, who much like Lee, was very much unused to the wizarding world.

"Where are you going?" the boy asked and Lee smiled broadly at him, waving the letters.

"I am dropping these off," he explained, "and then I am going to go explore the castle with some friends."

Kenneth cocked his head at that, setting down his quill carefully. "Friends?" he asked. Lee nodded.

"Neji and Tenten, they got sorted into different houses" he said, "I met Tenten when I went shopping, and the three of us sat with the twins and Lee Jordan on the train." Kenneth nodded thoughtfully at that.

"The person I went shopping with was sorted into Hufflepuff, d'you think she'll talk to me if we have classes?"

Lee nodded enthusiastically enough Kenneth had the brief thought he looked rather like a demented bobble head. "I don't see why not," he said with all the authority an eleven year old could muster, "Hufflepuffs are friendly, aren't they?"

Kenneth seemed to be mulling that over, so Lee left him to his thoughts. The common room was very full – it was raining something fierce outside – and Lee waved to the twins and Lee Jordan as he left. The boys barely looked up, secretive grins on their faces, but Charlie did wave goodbye.

"Where you off to?" he asked, looking up from a conversation with two very attractive girls and two other boys.

"I'm exploring," Lee said, "with some friends." One of the girl's with Charlie offered him a smile.

"Good thinking," she said, "our first day was a Friday so we didn't get the weekend or even a day to explore" she shook her head of impressively curly dark hair. "I was late for every class that day."

Their group laughed at her annoyed declaration, waving Lee off as he left through the portrait. The hall was cooler than the common room, which was actually sort of nice, and Lee took a moment to breathe deeply before the Fat Lady spoke.

"Lost already dear?" she asked him and Lee smiled, turning to speak to her.

"No ma'am," he said, "I'm just on my way to the Owlery."

A portrait across from their own, a young, rather vague looking man, spoke. "Owling your parents then lad? Good. Good..." he trailed off as if he was going to say something, but was instead looking at a flower with rapt attention.

"Well have fun," the Fat Lady said, "do be back in time for curfew." Lee frowned.

"Curfew is at eight," he said, "it's only one yet."

The portrait sniffed daintily. "So you've no excuse," she said, "now shoo!" Grinning Lee trotted off in the direction of the nearest staircase, letters clutched in his hand.

Neji entered the owlery with some trepidation, wrinkling his nose at the smell. It had been quite the trek from the dungeons which included walking up the stairs in the rain. He was, however, pleasantly surprised to see Tenten and Lee already there.

"Neji!" Tenten, to his surprise, threw her arms around him as a greeting, smiling widely. "We were a bit worried we'd have to go looking for the Slytherin common room," she pulled away, hands on her hips, "it was just luck I was here when Lee showed up."

Lee nodded, resting against a wall, petting a tiny brown owl which looked absolutely pleased. "Very good luck," he said, "are you owling your parents?" Neji ducked his head at that, to hide his frown.

"Various family members," he said after a moment, "how were your nights?" He walked over to a petite, rust coloured owl with a pale front. "Hello Tomiko," he greeted the owl, offering her a treat. "Want to take some letters home for me?" The owl hooted, pumping her wings imperiously.

"She's very pretty," Lee said, "and I had a great night. Everyone is very helpful and my dorm mates are quite friendly." Tenten nodded in agreement as Neji sent Tomiko off.

"My house is fairly quiet," Tenten said, "but your cousin has been terrific," she addressed Neji and he covered a small smile. "How are your housemates?"

"Tokuma has always been the ah, outgoing one in the family," Neji said. "My own housemates are as expected," he said after a moment of thinking.

"As expected?" Tenten asked as they headed down the wet stairs to the main part of Hogwarts.

"Annoying," Neji said and Tenten laughed while Lee wagged a finger at him.

"You'll never make friends with that sort of outlook," he said, "you must embrace the springtime of your youth, and invite others to bask in your warmth!"

Tenten and Neji stared at him for a moment. "No," Neji said finally, sparking another laugh from Tenten and a sigh from Lee.

"You will learn," Lee said with so much solemnity that Neji had to give him a small smile.

"At the very least _we_ can enjoy his springtime warmth," Tenten teased and Neji pulled a face.

"I do not have springtime warmth," he said seriously. "I am a Hyūga, not the first day of May." He pushed open the door they lead to the ground floor of the west wing. "Now, did you remember your schedules?"

The three each pulled out the schedules which had been passed out at breakfast, and Lee smiled, looking pleased as they compared them. "I've got a lot of classes with both of you," he said, "and plenty with the Hufflepuffs too." His smile grew. "Kenneth will be happy."

"Kenneth?" Tenten asked, "is he the other boy in your dorm?"

"Yes, he's muggleborn like you and me."

As they talked they passed a room which read _M. McGonagall_, and Neji pointed it out. "Is this Transfiguraton then?" he asked, pointing to the class across from it. Peering inside it looked well used.

"One down," Lee said, "well, actually I found the DADA room early this morning." Tenten grinned.

"I found the Astronomy tower and charms rooms," she said and Neji tucked his schedule away before speaking.

"I know where the potions room is," he said and Tenten smiled widely at them, linking arms with both boys. Neji gave her a startled look, but did not fight, and Lee actually tightened his grip somewhat, a grin even sillier than Tenten's on his face.

"Well then boys," Tenten said, "let's get going."

"Which class is closest?" Lee asked, "charms is on this floor."

Tenten hummed. "Astronomy is in a tower, DADA is in the west wing, fourth floor."

"Potions is in the dungeons," Neji said. "But easy to find other than that. Charms first, I guess. Though we'll have to find the History of Magic room. I have that second class on Monday."

"No time to waste then," Tenten.

Lee nodded. "I'm not to be late for curfew," he said seriously and Neji raised an eyebrow.

That is not until eight at night," he said, eyes narrowing when Lee cracked a smile.

"Then I've no excuse," he said in a way that suggested he was quoting someone. Neji gave an annoyed huff at the silliness, and Tenten's giggles followed them down the hall.


	6. September 4th 1989 - First Defence Class

**Title: **Sept 4th, 1989 - The First Defence Class

**Summary: **Tenten, Neji and Lee all have their first DADA classes with Prof. Bresnaha, to interesting results for some of the Slytherin and Gryffindor students.

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **I've got nothing...enjoy and review? Yeah! Enjoy and please review.

* * *

_September 4th, 1989 – First Defence Class_

Tenten entered the DADA class, flanked by a nervous Cara and a giddy Tate. Tokuma had told them all at the breakfast table that first year Defence was about as dangerous as a mud puddle, but Cara had yet to stop guessing at the various bloody fates they would all make.

"Honestly," Tenten said after five minutes waiting at the door. "Do you _honestly_ believe our teacher would subject a group of first years, some of us muggleborns, to, what was it again?"

"Death by lethifold," said a Hufflepuff boy with hair that was so blond it looked almost white. His accent was distinctly Irish and he was shooting Cara annoyed looks. "Which is assuming we don't all die by mass diffinido."

Cara glared at the boy as a few of their classmates giggled, a flush on her cheeks. "I'll have you know there is a documented case for _each_ of those deaths in-"

"Good morning," a new voice said, and the class looked as one toward their professor who had opened the door at some point. He was lounging against the door, dark haired tied back in a pony tail, blue eyes amused. "I promise to each of you, no one will die in this class," he looked at Cara, "now deep breaths Miss."

Cara's flush deepened but she did as she was told and offered an apologetic look to Tenten. "I'm sorry," she said, "I've always been um, nervous, shall I say?"

Tenten nodded understandingly, and Tate patted her back as they entered the class. "I've got a sister who had panic attacks," he said, "she got over it and became a medi-witch at St. Mungo's." Roger snorted as they sat down.

"How many siblings have you got exactly, Masters?"

Tate grinned. "Seven brothers and four sisters." Everyone in hearing range winced, including Tenten.

"And I thought four brothers and one sister was bad," she said. No one else got to comment because Professor Bresnaha cleared his throat. "As I said at the door, good morning class," he smiled as everyone mumbled a return. "I hope you'll all be patient with me, it's the first class I've taught in English in over a year." Several people looked intrigued by that and his smile turned a little funny. "Because we've only got forty minutes of class, we'll go around and say our names before we start the first chapter. I want each of you to tell me one thing about yourself."

Ysobel's hand inched up, and he pointed to her. "Yes um, what sort of thing, sir?"

The professor shrugged. "Anything," he said. "I'll start. I'm Daire Bresnaha, you'll call me prof. Bresnaha, and I've been studying different teaching methods for three years now. I trained at Durmstrang two years ago and Beauxbatons last year."

There were impressed murmurs all around and he pointed to a small Hufflepuff girl. "You start us off please," he said, "then we'll just go from there."

"Oh um, I'm Adelaide LeChance I um, I usually go by Addy and," she bit her lip, obviously thinking, "I've got a birthmark the shape of Manchester on my foot." A few people snickered while a few others looked interested. Prof. Bresnaha just nodded encouragingly, smiling.

"Thank you Miss. LeChance," he said, "next." He pointed to a dark haired Hufflepuff boy with light eyes.

"I'm Cedric Diggory," he said, giving the class a small wave, "I used to have a pet crup named Shrimp." The introductions went on, some interesting, like the fact Hufflepuff's Forester Paget spoke three languages or Ravenclaw's own Ysobel Elsegood was related to Lady Godiva, others less so.

Tenten was the second last person to be reached, and she thought for a moment before she spoke. "I'm Ting Teng, I go Tenten though, and I was born in China." A few people gave muttered sounds of surprise, including Tate with whom she was sitting and prof. Bresnaha cocked his head.

"Where about?" he asked.

"Oh," Tenten said, surprised by the question. "Nan'an, it's in Fujian province."

"Ah," the professor rubbed his chin. "I've only been to Hong Kong and Shanghai," he told her, "but interesting nonetheless." Vance Axton, the Irish boy from earlier turned in his seat directly in front of her to look at her.

"Does that mean you speak Chinese?" he asked and she considered the question.

"Well, I speak Teochew," she said, "which is a form of Chinese that's a lot different from Standard Mandarin which is the official language of China. I um, I'm not very good at Teochew though and I don't know any Mandarin at all."

A few people nodded, but no more questions were asked, and Tate was left trying to think up an interesting fact about himself. "I'm Tate Masters," he said, "and um, once when I was seven I saw a bean nighe in the stream by my house."

Someone in the back said something that sounded distinctly like _cool_ to that, but prof. Bresnaha held up his hands. "Thank you everyone, know we're going to talk about what exactly is Defence Against the Dark Arts and why is it important. Papers and quills out." A few people groaned while others rushed to as they were told.

"First off, the question, what are the dark arts and why do we need to defend against them? Any ideas?" Several hands went up and Tenten dipped her quill in her ink pot.

"So what," Bresnaha said, addressing the class, "are the dark arts exactly? And why do we need to be able to form a defence against them? Anyone care to offer an idea?"

Neji, seated as he was dead centre next to Lee, was not surprised to see every Slytherin hand go up, and all but three of the Gryffindor ones as well. The professor surveyed them for a moment before pointing to someone at the far back. "Miss. Thibault, was it? Yes you." Neji turned slightly to watch her speak, more out of politesse than anything.

"T-the dark arts are um, a many faceted subject which c-cover spells and potions and even creatures. W-we need to be able to defend against them because by nature of being dark, these things are harmful whether by intent or simple existence." She flushed as she spoke, and it occurred to Neji she was, likely, the only Slytherin who spoke less than himself.

"Very good Miss. Thibault," Bresnaha said, "five points for obviously having done some reading and being prepared," he smiled kindly at her. "Now, does anyone want to expand on that maybe, in their own words?"

This time fewer hands rose, and Neji was unsurprised when Bresnaha chose a Gryffindor, one of the twins. "Mr. Weasley, if you would."

"Well," Fred – Neji was about 90 percent sure it was Fred anyway – said, "dark arts have only ever been used to hurt people or groups, right? So, if we want to be able to function we got to have some basic idea of how to not, you know, get our souls sucked out by a dementor or mauled by a werewolf or cursed by a nutter." Bresnaha nodded, but said nothing, instead pointing to Neji, much to the Slytherin's surprise.

"Anything to add Mr. Hyūga?" he smiled, "I'm saying that correctly, no?"

Neji blinked. "You're pronunciation is just fine sir," he said after a moment, not bothering to tell the man few people pronounced correctly. "I would say one particular reason we would need to know how to defend against a dark wizard or witch or even creature is the fact the war wasn't that long ago," he barely avoided fiddling with his hair. "There are still people who hold to the ideas of You Know Who and the death eaters, so it stands that we still need to be extra cautious to this day."

Bresnaha nodded as Neji spoke. "Exactly," he said. "Now, show of hands, who here had family involved in the war." Every Slytherin and all but the three Gryffindors from before once again raised their hands. "Ahh," the man said, "I suspect Miss. Johnson, Mr. Rock and Mr. Towler are all muggle-born, am I right?" They nodded.

Look at his class he hummed, before pointing to Lee Jordan. "Who in your family was involved?" he asked.

"My mum works for the courts," Lee said, "and I have an aunt who works as hit wizard."

Next Bresnaha pointed to Spinnet. "My father's a healer at St. Mungo's," she said, "he said he's never seen the place more busy than it was during the war."

"Exactly," Bresnaha said. "As you can see, the war touched all facets of our society, people in the courts and the hospitals needed to know how to defend themselves from disgruntled criminals or confused patients." He turned to the Slytherins, obviously thinking. "How were your families involved?" he asked, not unkindly. A few of the Gryffindors snickered, and a few of the Slytherins shifted nervously including Pucey. Neji raised his hand.

"Both my parents were aurors," he said, ignoring the shocked looks several people gave him.

"Did they stop when they had to start arresting their family members?" a blond Gryffindor girl asked, and Bresnaha gave her a disapproving look.

"Many aurors left after the war to raise their families in peace," he chided and Neji looked down, ignoring Lee's concern look, but said nothing. His family was his own business.

"Many more," Bresnaha continued, "died in the war. The thing about dark magic is, the user needs only be lucky once, just as those in the front lines need only be unlucky once." He leaned back until he was sitting on the edge of his desk. "The dark arts – and make sure you're writing this down – the dark arts are a very broad spectrum of abilities, beings and objects. In fact, those are the major categories, dark spells, like the unforgivable curses, dark potions, dark objects and dark creatures."

"Your class will mainly focus on theory, starting with creatures as they are the most straight forward," as he spoke he flicked his wand, and the chalk started to write down a list of creatures. "I'll tell you now, most of your mark will rely on an essay I will eventually assign, but for now, what does anyone here know about one of the most famous types of dark creature – the werewolf?"

Hands shot up, including that of muggleborns, and Neji was surprised when Lee passed him a note. It read;

_My parents are gone too._

Neji stared at it for a moment before whipping around, slightly off centre from the astute observation, so he could see Warrington who was chosen to talk.

The note, however, remained clutched in his hand.

The class was deep into a conversation about werewolves, or rather it was mostly about debunking common myths, when professor Bresnaha looked at the clock and clapped his hands. "Well," he said sounding a little surprised, "this is as good as spot as any to stop. I want half a page reflection on chapters one and two for next class. Would Messrs. Towler, Rock and Hyūga stay behind, along with Misses. Johnson and Thibault?" When it appeared that was all he had to say the class quickly rolled up their parchments and stoppered their inks, some students all but running for the door.

For their own part the students asked to stay afterwards moved slower, Neji and Lee both taking time to make sure they didn't wrinkle their notes. The last person to leave was Alicia Spinnet, who promised to wait for Angelina outside, before closing the door behind her.

Johnson, Towler and Thibault all shuffled forward looking nervous. They clustered around Neji and Lee's desk, and Neji was not surprised when the man leaned back onto his desk. "You're none of you in trouble," he said, "I mostly wanted to ask the muggleborns how they're handling the school so far? My wife is muggle-born and she often felt overwhelmed by Hogwarts in her first week." No one said anything for a moment – and both the Slytherins were wondering why they were there before Kenneth Towler gave a groan and sat at a nearby desk.

"I think I was missorted sir," he said with utmost seriousness, "I'm too spooked by everything to be a Gryffindor. The first time the F-" he eyed Neji and Thibault, "the firs time a portrait talked to me I almost cried." He buried his face in his hands while Johnson rubbed his back. "And I miss my mum."

"I miss my mum too," Thibualt said softly, avoiding eye contact. "Even I think everything is a little...strange." She twiddled with her skirt, shooting Neji incredibly fearful looks.

"I miss people too," Lee said, "and it's kind of strange sharing a room." He looked a little sheepish. "Is that odd? I like everyone," he smiled at Kenneth, "but I'm used to having my own room." He wrinkled his nose, "even though no one ever respected my privacy in it."

"Did you leave behind siblings Mr. Rock?" Bresnaha asked and Lee looked startled.

"I-no sir, I actually live in, well. It's an orphanage, more or less."

Towler looked surprised by that and Thibault actually gasped. "You-you're parents didn't...they weren't..." she trailed off, looking worried. "IhavecsouinsinAzkabantheykilledsomemugglesandtort uredpeople." Lee frowned for a moment before realization dawned.

"No no," he said, "no it was a car accident when I was six," he said, "a definitely normal car accident."

Thibault looked relieved, Bresnaha intrigued. "That is, in part why I asked you to stay though, Miss. Thibault, Mr. Hyūga." He gestured for the muggle-borns to leave. Lee flashed them a thumbs up as they left, to which Neji rolled his eyes. "Both of you looked a bit uncomfortable during the discussion about family in the war."

Neji sighed. "I just don't like to talk about it," he said, "not to mention everyone knows half of Slytherin is full of people related to You-Know-Whos followers," he shrugged. "I just...didn't really want to give something the Gryffindors something to gossip about."

"W-why did your parents quit as aurors?" Thibault asked and Neji, still looking down frowned.

"My parents didn't retire," he said, "my mum died in a raid in 1980, my father was killed in 1982." He looked up, expecting to see pity on Bresnaha's face. Instead he found understanding.

"My baby sister died in 1980," he said softly, "killed when she refused to stop treating muggle-born patients after death eaters managed to overtake part of St. Mungo's." He smiled sadly, "in fact, she died protecting her patients and fellow healers." He turned a photograph on his desk, showing two girls and two boys alongside Professor Bresnaha. He pointed to the youngest girl and a boy with glasses. "Iona was nineteen when that happened, Odhran died five weeks later, he was an Unspeakable. His partner's entire family was killed during 1981." he sighed and turned the photograph back around. "I didn't ask you to stay so I could upset you," he said, seeing Thibault's tear filled eyes.

"Then why did you sir?" Neji asked.

Bresnaha ran a hand through his hair, dislodging his hair tie. "Oh Merlin's ba-ahem." He stooped to pick the tie up, smiling sheepishly. "Because you both looked angry about what some of the students implied your family did during the war." He looked sad, Neji noted. "It was a dark time, I was twenty three when it ended, I went to school with a lot of the people who did the most damage."

Thibault nodded sadly, but said nothing while Neji shrugged. "I only have on relative who followed You-Know-Who," he said, "she was disowned, and ojisama sent both her children to Mahoutokoro instead of here. So no one would pick on them or give them 'ideas'." He shrugged to show he knew nothing of the decision other than that. "But no, I wasn't really upset..." he tried to think of a way to phrase how he felt. "My parents are no one's business but mine and my family's, and we know the truth." It was what his aunt had said to him once when he was seven.

Bresnaha nodded to show he understood and leaned away from his desk. "That's all then, you'll have time to drop your things off before supper," he said, "or you can head right there, it start in ten minutes. If you ever want to talk though, my office is right next door to here." He walked them to the door, and Neji was surprised to see Johnson, Spinnet and Towler waiting with Lee.

"Oh," Thibault looked just as shocked as himself, taking a step closer to her housemate. "Um..." she looked helplessly at Neji.

"Thank you for waiting Lee," he said, "and you too." Towler shrugged while Spinnet eyed him suspiciously.

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't attack them," she said bluntly and Neji raised an eyebrow.

"I like Lee," he said simply, "and don't tend to attack people randomly. I'm not a madman." Johnson smiled at that, nudging her friend.

"He's alright," she said. "Come on, let's get to supper before they start without us." She and Spinnet started off ahead of them, while Lee fell next to Neji, Thibault still stuck to his side.

"What did Prof. Bresnaha want?" Towler asked, flushing a little. "I-if you don't mind me asking."

Thibault smiled shyly at him. "He just didn't want to upset us, talking about the war." She saw Lee and Towler's questioning looks, "a lot of Slytherins had family on the um...wrong side, let's say, of the war."

"Oh," Towler said slowly. All three boys were surprised when she giggled.

"What?" Neji asked, brows drawn together in a scowl. She smiled.

"Grace is going to be so annoyed if I walk in with you," she said. "She's warned us all away from you."

The three boys looked at her in confusion. "Why?" Towler asked at last.

Thibault rolled her eyes. "Because, you," she poked Neji gently, "are cute." Neji must have failed to keep the horror off his face because the other three snickered.

"I am not cute," Neji protested. "Kittens and baby owls are cute, I..." he trailed off.

"No," Towler said, "she's right. You're not bad looking." Neji gave him a look and Towler shrugged. "I've got two sisters," he said, "plus all the girls in Gryffindor talk about a guy in Ravenclaw who looks like you." Neji scowled.

"Tokuma," he said. "A cousin. I've got one in Gryffindor too." Towler nodded.

"The scary prefect," he said and Neij hid a smile at the blunt but correct assessment.

"Azami," he said. Thibault sighed.

"Have you got a big family?" she asked, "mine's actually right small. I've got a cousin – not the Azkaban ones – who's two years younger than me, but other than that it's just me and my brother."

Neji considered the question. "Well," he said at last, "technically I've only got two first cousins, Hinata is only a few months younger than me, but she was born in December so she'll not be here until next year. Hanabi is her little sister, she's six right now. Tokuma, Hoshu and Azami are all second cousins, and there are probably about fifty off third and fourth cousins I don't even know the names of."

Towler smiled. "Sounds like my family," he said. "I've only got the two sisters, but mom's got five sisters and dad's got three and a little brother. I've got so many cousins I don't know what to do with them." He grinned at Thibault. "In fact, you can have some of mine, for real cheap too."

"That's awful," she said as she giggled and Neji relaxed a little as the conversation drifted to include Towler and Lee more than himself. It was nicer, he decided, than listening to Moon's nonstop gossiping, even if the girl was actually quite smart under her outgoing visage. As they reached the Great Hall Neji noted a few older years giving them strange looks, but ignored it in favour of Towler's explanation of a muggle sport called 'hockey' which, apparently, was better than football.

Lee claimed Towler was the only person this side of the Atlantic mad enough to claim such a thing, while Thibault seemed to have trouble with the idea the sport was mostly played on ice. Entering the Great Hall Neji waved Lee off, then waved to Tenten as he passed the Ravenclaw table. Tokuma, of course, waved back heartily and Thibault giggled. "You're cousin seems sweet," she said as they approached their table and Neji rolled his eyes.

"Tokuma is...outgoing," Neji said in a way that suggested _outgoing_ was not an admirable trait. Thibault patted his head as they sat, the both of them ignoring Moon's glare of disapproval.

"Neji, we're going to have to work on your people skills," she said and Neji raised an eyebrow, but did not point out her own shyness. Instead he pointedly asked Pucey for the pumpkin juice, _please_ and ignored Thibault's snickering.

Maybe not _all_ of his housemates were annoying.


	7. September 5th&6th 1989 - Flying Lessons

**Title: **Sept 5th & 6th, 1989 - Flying Lessons

**Summary: **Tenten and Lee, despite it all, enjoy flying lessons. Neji is of a different mind entirely.

**Rating: **K+

**Author's Note: **I've got no words for how much I hated writing this chapter - but I was too stubborn to scrap it. Next up Halloween, Winter Break and we _finallly_ start seeing the Konoha 9! Review and enjoy, please.

* * *

Lined up in two rows of eight, the Hufflepuff and Slytherin first years were a study in contrasts. Most of the Slytherins looked to be their standard mixture of keenly interested and completely uncaring, while most of the Hufflepuffs looked down right excited. Mixed in among both groups, however, were a few unhappy faces.

Neji was decidedly one of these.

He was standing sandwiched between Pucey and Warrington, the middle of two extremes. Warrington, the berk that he was, looked down right bored, and had been spending all his free time through the day explaining how long he'd been flying, and how pointless these lesson were. Pucey, on the other hand, had forced his roommates to quite literally drag him from his bed this morning, and spent most of lunch in the toilet.

Neji himself was not overjoyed by the prospect of flying lessons. It wasn't that he was frightened of heights, because he most certainly was _not_, it was simply that he preferred to have something beneath his feet. The person directly across from him was a weedy Hufflepuff boy with alarmingly curly hair who was practically bouncing on his feet, and the whole area was filled with nervous, excited chatter.

It was, simply put, torture.

As he stood under the warmth of the early afternoon sun, Neji tuned out the chatter around him and studied his assigned broom instead. Mme. Hooch was currently going over some sort of check list and had been doing so for the last few minutes since roll call. Neji really wished she would just get this over with, and it was no sooner that he thought that than a sharp whistle cut through the air.

The class went silent, all looking to their teacher as she surveyed them. Her eyes stopped briefly on Pucey, likely making note of his nerves, before she finally started to speak.

"Flying," her voice rang out across the field, "is one of the most important forms of transportation in Magical Britain. It allows wizards and witches exercise while getting from point A to B, and is the foundation for our finest sport."

"Quidditch?" one Hufflepuff asked, her excitement obvious and the coach eyed her.

"Yes, Miss. Appleby, Quidditch. Of course, first years may not own a broom or be on the quidditch team but by practising this skill over the next four weeks you will be able to join, if you and your housemates so choose, in the years after this."

She walked between the two lines as she spoke, making eye contact with each student as she did so, and Neji was intrigued by the her hawk-like eyes. It managed to remind him of his uncle, despite a lack of physical similarity.

"Now, the first step to flying is, of course, getting on your broom. To do so, you will command your broom in a firm voice to come," she stopped at her own broom and put a hand over it, "up." The broom zoomed up to her, and she easily caught it. She smiled at the group. "Once you have successfully done this you will mount your broom, I will come to you and you will hover no more than three feet off the ground for ten seconds. Then," she let her broom drop gently, "you will come back down to the ground. Any questions?"

No one spoke and she made an approving little sound. "Good now, commence!"

Neji was not entirely surprised when his broom did not answer to his dispassionate, "up," a few seconds later, or even any of the "ups" afterwards. Two Hufflepuff boys managed on their first try, as had Warrington. More to Neji's surprise was the fact Thibault and Zettesberg managed it quite quickly.

Next to him, Pucey was obviously not trying at all, and Mme. Hooch came to a stop between them, crossing her arm as she watched Pucey's seventh failed attempt. "No, Pucey, you must _want_ the broom to come to you – it shan't otherwise."

Neji eyed his own broom, which had wobbled a bit during the last few demands. _What I _want_, _he thought_, is to be done with this_. With that in mind he eyed the broom, sharpening his gaze into a semblance of his uncle's well known glare. "Up," he said in the same way his uncle usually told other people 'no'.

The broom jumped up to his hand as if that had been it's plan all along and he blinked once to hide his shock. Next to him Mme. Hooch clapped her hands. "Very good Hyūga," she said. "It took some of your cousins three lessons to manage getting this far."

Neji managed not to smile, even though he would bet a galleon it was Azami. She never had liked heights.

"Now mount up," she told him, "let's see your form." A dark haired Hufflepuff across from Pucey, one of the ones who had already managed to do all of this, gave him a wide smile and a thumbs up, and Neji barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

He hated flying lessons.

* * *

If Neji had found flying lessons with the Hufflepuffs to be trying, he would have likely committed homicide if he'd been stuck with the Gryffindors, or even the Ravenclaws. Tenten sighed as Roger launched into an in depth analysis of the brooms laid out around them, smiling slightly at Lee as they passed by. The boy flashed her a thumbs up before turning back to his housemate, who looked distinctly ill.

Tenten herself was of a mixed mind. On one hand, she'd always been a sports fan, having taken up ice skating, football and various martial arts over the years. Flying, however, seemed somewhat like a leap in faith for any of the muggleborns in the class. Except, apparently, Lee who seemed only capable of excitement and unaware of things like fear. Probably why he was a Gryffindor.

It didn't help that the brooms didn't look all that safe, or at least not sturdy. Tenten thought, rather giddily, her parents would never allow this – they hadn't even let her sign up for rugby last fall.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Her attention was brought back to Roger who was staring at her with suspicion, and she realized she was grinning a bit broadly. She shrugged.

"My parents probably wouldn't like this," she told him. He frowned.

"And this pleases you?"

She nodded, "of course." Raising an eyebrow he turned to Tate on his other side. "Seems a bit Gryffindor of her," he said. Tate shrugged.

"More like human mate," he said. "Not that you'd know."

"Oi -" anything he may have said to that was cut off by the teacher blowing a rather shrill whistle.

"Listen up," she said, her voice carrying in the manner most sport's coaches seemed to have mastered. "These are flying lessons as they'll be set up for the next four weeks. We will cover everything from mounting your broom to broom care. To do this, you must all listen to me," she was looking rather pointedly at the Gryffindors. "Today all we shall be doing is commanding our brooms to come up. Once this is complete, you will mount your broom and hove for ten seconds. If you complete the landing we will move to part two."

She cleared her throat as she started to walk down the line. "Now, not everyone will get it on the first try, or even the second or tenth. There is no shame in this, and I will not tolerate any remarks about it," this time she looked to the Ravenclaws. "Understood."

Nervously, they nodded their heads collectively. "Good. To get your broom, all you must do is, place your hand over it and say _up_." As she spoke she demonstrated, shocking a few when her broom zoomed straight up into her hand.

"Cool," one Gryffindor girl said, eyes wide.

"Yes, cool," was the teacher's reply. "Now – commence!"

It was harder than it looked. Tenten focused, she really did, but something seemed up. It was like telling her youngest brother to do something, he knew he should, but he didn't want to. Picturing him in her mind, she tried to think of what usually got him going. Their mother of course. Smiling a little she looked down at the broom. "Up," she told it, almost dropping it when it came to her. Next to her Roger muttered something that sounded almost like approval.

She was surprised when, across from her, Lee gave her a spattering of applause. He himself had not managed to get his broom up, though the Weasley twins and the girl who had said _cool_ had and were now seated about two feet off the ground. "You can do it," she told Lee, ignoring the gasp of _traitor_, from Roger. He was, she was learning, rather dramatic.

Lee nodded as if to agree and smiled down at his broom. "Up!" he commanded, grin managing to grow when it twitched feebly.

"Picture telling one of the younger kids you know to do something," she advised him. He considered this for a moment.

"Up," he said again, his voice more no nonsense. The broom moved a little more slowly than her own, but did in fact do as it was told. The teacher, who Tenten had failed to notice, hummed.

"Interesting technique Miss..Teng, was it?" Tenten nodded. "5 points each for inter-house cooperation. Now, let's see if either of you are natural born fliers."

As it turned out, Tenten nor Lee were, but they enjoyed it all the same. Even the bit where Kenneth Towler fainted in midair.


End file.
